bettyk

This may not be a popular sentiment on this board, but until we get over the idea that we always have to be politically correct and actually start profiling airline passengers, we will not be utilzing our limited resources in the best possible manner. We know and have always known that the terrorists fit a certain profile. These are the people we should be concentrating on even though they may be patriotic Americans. It makes no sense to do otherwise. A few people may get their feelings hurt but the world is not the same since 9/11.

Poohgirl

One of my bosses says she is always pulled aside because of her appearance. She is South American in origin and appearance, so that means she could match a description of a mid-easterner also. She also travels on a French passport which apparently is suspicious also (I did not know that until she told me.) She's a good sport about it, as she understands the rationale behind it.

missypie

I remember a flight my family took in the summer of 2002. There was a guy in the gate area with a very large back pack who was acting very very odd. My husband and son were in the men's room at the same time as he was; he went into the handicapped stall and never sat down - just paced back and forth, back and forth.

But those were the days when one's ticket would mark you for a "random" detailed search. So the weird backpack guy got on the plane with no problem, and they did a detailed search of my 6 year old!

GreenDragon

bettyk, for what it's worth, I agree with you. Of course, not all terrorists are 20-40 muslim males, but 95% of the recent ones are. I would expect the profiling to follow that pattern - 95% to the obvious, 5% on the rest. Good luck. Political correctness is getting in the way of logic once again.

Carrybean

There's nobody more white bread than I am & I'm ALWAYS pulled aside, patted down, searched & frisked to the point I want to ask them, "Was it good for you?"

P_M

I learned the hard way about wearing baggy clothing while flying. A couple of years go I was coming through London Gatwick wearing baggy pants and a big T-shirt. I'm not always so sloppy, but I wanted to be comfy for my 10-hour flight.

I was going through security and got patted down, thorougly. There was no glove involved, but let's just say that lady's hands went where no woman has ever gone before!! By the time she got through with me, I felt like I had cheated on my husband. I understand that she was only doing her job. I must say she was very fast and maintained a professional demeanor. But geez Louise, I now feel like I played for the other team....

Oh well, I suppose travel is all about new experiences.

katya_NY

I have no problem with being searched, but in a way, it concerns me. I know I am not a terrorist, but I know that if I am getting thoroughly searched, someone else isn't. They don't have enough time. This is where my concern lies.

A few years ago (pre-9/11- I think it was April of 2001) I was traveling home from Korea with my father. (My mother and sister had flown the day earlier, transporting a baby to his adoptive parents.)

I know that that was DEFINITELY the most thorough searching I have ever received. I guess we were a strange looking "couple"- and we had enormous suitcases packed with hanboks for other adoptive families in our area. That was my first exposure to the "in depth" search.

More recently- last fall I got the "in depth search" while chaperoning a group of 19 teens. The kids refused to move out of the area, as we had told them to stay in sight so as not to get separated at the airport. The TSA group wasn't happy with us!!

Stellarossa

The TSA, along with the rest of us, don't like hippies. Don't dress like one and you should be ok,

My $0.02.

JandaO

dont speak for me.
I dont mind hippies. People should dress the way they want to as long as they are exposing themselves.

I wish some would wash their hair more often.

I am all for peace and love.

OReilly

Like CelticHarper, I am SO non-"profile" that I get hauled over for the full search almost every time, particularly when I travel to and from the US. I actually asked one security gentleman in the US - "WHY ME?" and he admited I was so obviously NOT the profile I proved they were not profiling

The search at LHR is embarassing - I never know WHERE to look. It is really diconcerting to be felt up in public by a woman and I thought a couple of them went a bit TOO far.

In Toronto airport during the 80s, they used to bring the sniffer dogs out for the flight from Ireland; NO not looking for drugs or explosives, these dogs specialized in Irish PORK products, as every person on the flight arrived with a case full of rashers, blood pudding, sausages and ham for the relatives. I saw one old dear in her 70s having a fight with a patrol dog who was attempting to separate her from her hand luggage. Turns out she had a whole side of Limerick ham in the bag!

LoriS

I fly about 50-60 flights per year and I've rarely (if ever) get singled out for extra searches. I thought it was due to my high-level frequent flier status. However, my DH is often singled out for extra searches and he has the same "status" that I do. He thinks he fills the "non-profiling" quota since he's a bald white male.

ready2travel

BettyK and Greendragon, I'm with you: I'm disgusted with political correctness triumphing over logic and reason. Events since 9/11 have shown that the vast majority of terrorist murderers fit a specific profile. In that case, why are we bothering to even search the token "whitebread" travelers and wasting precious time and security resources. My apologies to those travelers who physically resemble the dreaded "racially profiled" but, in the interests of safety, it seems inevitable.

I feel even more strongly about this since the last 2 people I knew who were given body and luggage searches were my mother and stepfather, both of whom are in their 90s and who - together - weigh about 150 pounds. What were THEY wearing? Probably polyester. Is this insane or what?

JandaO

ready2travel,

I couldnt agree more with your response.

tara3056

I've been pulled aside to do the thing where they make you spread your arms while they wave the hand-wand metal detector thingy all around your body, but nothing more...

What are the rules (I'm assuming there are some!) in terms of how thoroughly passengers can be searched for domestic flights? Someone referred to a strip search - am I wrong in thinking that they can't actually demand that?

What about foreign airports? Here, we have all these regulations saying that screeners must use the backs of their hands to pat down women around the breast area, etc. From the stories alluded to here, I assume it goes a lot further than that at European airports? I'm not asking for details anyone's uncomfortable giving or to turn the thread lascivious in any way, but as a young woman myself, I kind of want to know what to expect if I were to be singled out for such a search...

P_M

tara, in my case she did not use the back of her hands. But she did it very quickly and although it was weird, I didn't feel violated just surprised.

DeborahAnn

I cannot remember having ever been search so thoroughly as I was at CDG but then again I've never experienced such close scrutiny of my luggage either. I had two thoughts while I was being searched. 1. My goodness, is this allowed? 2. I hope I don't start to laugh because I'm extremely ticklish It was very professional so I don't think either of us was having any fun. Deborah

kerouac

The only time I felt that I had been "thoroughly" searched was at Heathrow quite a few years ago -- I think that the agent could have filled out a form with the estimated weight of my testicles. But to get back to profiling, back then they were looking for IRA types, and non-European travelers were of little interest to them. Times change.

GreenDragon

JandaO? Don't you think you might want to... rephrase that?

"People should dress the way they want to as long as they are exposing themselves."

P_M

LOL, I didn't catch that in Janda's other post!!

But now that you mention it, maybe exposing one's self is a good idea. It will certainly make lines at security move faster. I recently posted a thread entitled, "It ain't rude to fly in the nude." I still stand firmly behind this idea.

kleeblatt

At the beg. of July in Heathrow, a friend and I were asked to try out their new X-ray machine for people. Made for one person only, you stand in a big box and put your feet on the marked footprints. You raise your arms and then get "x-rayed". It took about two minutes for the procedure.

I wonder whatever happened to that machine?